Chapter Five

 

Noah anxiously glanced at the door for what had to be the hundredth time, wondering if he should go outside. Calling Mitch had to be difficult for her. What if she needed support? After five minutes passed this way, he decided to go after her, if only to give her his jacket, but the door opened and she walked into the restaurant with a strange look on her face.

She stopped at the table of the woman who’d lent them the phone, plastering what he recognized as a fake smile on her face. “Do you want to take that photo now?

The woman hopped out of her chair and raced around to stand next to Libby, pausing only to hand the proffered phone to her husband. “Get close up, Bill. No full body shot. I don’t want my fat rolls showing.” She turned to Libby. “I’m posting this on social media. No one will believe this, so I need proof.”

Libby’s smile widened as she faced the camera. After several clicks, Libby turned to face the woman. “Thank you so much for letting me use your phone. If you get a call from a woman named Megan, please tell her I said to go to hell,” she said in a sweet voice.

Noah’s blood pressure began to rise. So she’d called his sister-in-law, and apparently Megan had been a bitch about the whole runaway bride thing.

The woman’s head jutted back in surprise, and then she laughed. “Will do. I’m sure there’s a story there.” She cast a wicked glance at Noah and winked before leaning close to Libby and whispering something in her ear.

Libby’s eyes widened and she shook her head, mouthing the word no, but the woman ignored her and sat down with her family.

By the time Libby returned to the booth, the fake smile had slipped from her face.

“Lib? Did you get ahold of Mitch?”

“What?” She glanced up at Noah. “Yeah.”

“And?”

She released a heavy breath. “He’s actually pretty okay. He said he was having doubts too. Turns out his old college girlfriend contacted him this week . . .” Her voice trailed off, but he thought he heard her mumble something about a curse working for Mitch.

“So he’s not mad?”

“What?” She looked startled. “No. He’s not mad in the least.”

“But Megan is.”

She shivered. “Yes. I don’t know. I hung up on her.”

Her shaking drew his attention to the goosebumps on her arms, and he remembered she’d been standing outside in forty-degree weather in her sleeveless dress. He scooted around to her and pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “You’re freezing.”

She stiffened at the contact, which caught him off guard. He’d hugged her plenty of times before and she’d never reacted like that. But she instantly relaxed and leaned the back of her neck against his arm.

“What did Megan say?”

“You’re warm.” She snuggled into him and closed her eyes.

He’d sat close to her more times than was probably appropriate given the fact she’d had a boyfriend. Somehow this was different. Libby was a stunningly beautiful woman, but tonight, in her wedding dress, she was beyond gorgeous. He’d spent so much time sneaking glances at her while she was asleep in the car, it was a wonder he hadn’t run off the road. But now her face was tilted toward him, and her cheeks seemed to glow in the warm light of the restaurant. Strands of her thick, dark hair had worked loose from her non-fussy up-do. As she snuggled closer to him, her lips softened and the worry wrinkles on her forehead faded. He was staring at her long, dark eyelashes when her eyes opened, and he found himself lost in her gaze.

He expected her to pull away, but she remained still, her rich dark eyes staring back at him. She looked so serene, so beautiful, he found himself drawn to her—the force so powerful it was almost magnetic. He started to lean over to kiss her, the instinct so strong it overrode all reason.

“Here’s two steaks for the happy couple,” the waitress singsonged in a happy voice.

Startled, Noah jerked upright and Libby scooted out from under his arm. Had she realized what he was about to do? God, he hoped not. He wanted more with her, but now wasn’t the time. A month ago, she’d made it perfectly clear how she felt about them moving past friendship, and he had to confess, she had valid points even if he hoped to persuade her she was wrong. But he’d rather have her in his life as his friend than not at all, and he’d never forgive himself if he screwed it up with her. Let him fuck up everything else in his life, but not this. Not her. As the waitress slid their plates onto the table, he was already working on excuses if Libby decided to call him out.

“Can I get you anything else?” the waitress asked. “Steak sauce? Ketchup?”

Libby looked around the table. “Where are Noah’s fried pickles?”

The waitress cringed. “Sorry about that. I have to admit, you’ve got the kitchen staff fit to be tied. They keep poking their heads out the door to get a look at you instead of doing their jobs. They’ll be right out.”

Noah didn’t care about the pickles. He only wanted the waitress to leave so he could assess the fallout from his near mistake. When Libby picked up her fork and knife without saying anything, he decided to ignore that it had ever happened. “So you and Mitch are okay?”

“Yeah.” She kept her gaze on her plate as she sawed on her steak. “He wished me well, but then that’s Mitch. He’s awesome like that.”

“Having second thoughts?”

“What?” Her gaze jerked up to his. “No. I didn’t really love him.” A tiny grin twisted her lips. “And if I had to listen to one more Razorback call, I think I may have killed him before our first anniversary. Did I tell you the wedding was Razorback themed?”

“What?” he laughed, relieved she’d let their awkward moment pass. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. He wore an Arkansas printed tie and socks. Megan and Blair wore red dresses, and he had a Hog groom’s cake.” Grinning, she stabbed a piece of her steak. “In his vows, he used a play from the 2010 Cotton Bowl game.”

“Why in the world did you agree to that?” He couldn’t imagine her going along with any of it.

She shrugged. “It’s what he wanted.”

“Doesn’t the bride typically get what she wants?” He couldn’t understand why she’d proposed to Mitch, but it absolutely astonished him that she’d let him plan the entire wedding. She loved weddings and everything about them. Heck, she’d probably started planning her big day when she was a middle-schooler collecting images cut out of magazines. None of this made sense.

She shrugged again, not looking up at him.

“Libby.”

She lifted her gaze to his.

He paused. “Yeah, Mitch is a great guy, but he wasn’t the right guy for you.” He held up his hand in case she started to protest. “And no, this isn’t me gloating.”

Something like regret filled her eyes. “You have every right.”

He gave a small shake of his head. “Nope. Not even a little.” He turned serious. “But one day, you’ll meet a guy who can give you the kind of love your friends have found, because that’s what you deserve, Libby. A guy who will stand by your side no matter what, then sweep you off your feet while he’s giving you the stars and moon.” He hoped that guy was him, particularly since a band of jealousy coiled around his heart at the notion of some other man giving that to her. The feeling was unsettling; he’d never been jealous like this before.

Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to find that, Noah. It’s too late.”

“Bullshit. You’re not even thirty yet.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

A soft smile lit up her face. “You’re the only man who’s ever liked me for me.”

“What does that mean?”

“Guys always see the outside. They rarely pay attention to the inside.”

Guilt washed through him. How many times had he been so dazzled by a woman’s beauty, he’d ignored everything else about her? And while he’d seen firsthand how many men openly gawked at Libby, it had never occurred to him to ask how she felt about it. “Not every man is like that, Lib. Look at Josh.” And me. But he couldn’t tell her that. She was still raw over her breakup with Mitch. He didn’t want to be her rebound.

She pursed her lips and didn’t answer.

He decided to change the subject, although he wasn’t sure the one he was moving on to was any safer. “So you called Megan.”

She sighed. “Mitch said she and Blair were freaking out.” A grin cracked her lips. “Blair thought I’d been kidnapped and wanted the police to issue an Amber Alert.”

“Wait. Isn’t that for—”

“Yeah. For kids. Megan says she was irritated when they wouldn’t do it.”

Noah chuckled. “Sounds like Blair.” He paused. “What did Megan say about you running off?”

She scowled. “Nothing good.”

“I gathered that from the fact that you suggested a complete stranger tell your best friend to go to hell.”

She grinned up at him, a new playfulness in her eyes. Relief spread warmth through his veins. She had every reason to be upset, but it killed him to see her that way. He’d do anything to keep her happy.

He gave her a cocky grin. “Since you were supposed to get married, I take it you’ve got a few days off for your honeymoon.”

“Well . . . yeah. I postponed all my photo shoots for the next couple of weeks.”

“Where were you going for a honeymoon?”

“We were supposed to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but then Mitch’s high school football team made it into a playoff game. So we canceled the trip.”

“But you still have time off?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Let’s go on a road trip.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

“No. We’re already in Junction City. Why not just keep going?”

“How about the fact that I don’t have any clothes on me besides this wedding dress?”

“So we’ll buy you more clothes.”

“Noah, I don’t have any money. Or a cell phone. Or a form of ID for that matter.”

“Then I’ll pay for the trip.” When she started to protest, he held up a hand. “Consider it a non-wedding present. Or if you’d like, consider it your kidnapper providing for your basic needs.”

“And you can take off work just like that? I thought you guys were in the middle of a merger that was sucking away all your free time.”

He considered telling her the truth—in fact, he was dying to tell her the truth. She was the one person who would understand how he felt. She knew how hard he’d been trying with the family business. But this was about Libby right now, not him. His problems weren’t going anywhere. He could wait. “Lucky for you, I took time off.”

She ate several more bites before looking up at him. “So where would we go?”

He grinned. “Wherever we want. In fact, I declare tomorrow Libby St. Clair Day.”

“Does that mean I get to pick where we go?”

His eyes narrowed. “Where do you want to go?”

She laughed. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to learn the rules.”

“The rules are we don’t do anything responsible. We just have fun.”

Her lips pursed as she considered it, then she grinned and held out her hand. “Deal.”

“Deal.” He shook her hand, holding it a few seconds longer than necessary before releasing it.

She leaned toward him. “So where are we going?”

Then he knew how to make it really fun for her. He’d never met anyone who loved surprises more than Libby. “I’ve decided not to tell you. You’ll find out tomorrow.”

“You have no idea.”

“I guess you’ll find out.” She was right, but he’d never admit it. But as long as she continued to look this happy, he’d figure out how to get her to the moon if she wanted to go there.